F/A-16 Dragon ***FINISHED*** Pics Pg.6

TheChronicOne · December 17, 2019, 10:00:41 AM

What if USAF succeeded in killing off the A-10 program in the early-mid 80's?

In this alternate universe, the powers that be in the upper echelon of USAF determined the F-16XL a worthy venture. Also, trials using regular F-16s for ground attack were successful enough to convince the brass that with the upgrade that is the XL they would have all they needed in a self-protecting tank bomber. The foul GPU-5 gun pod idea WAS scrapped however, because USAF may be fancy, but they ain't dumb. With the quicker speeds of the F-16XL and lack of a second engine, USAF doesn't want them loitering anyway and thus closer relations with the US ARMY were achieved in new era of unprecedented cooperation to ensure plenty of AH-64 served as a replacement for the GAU-8 capabilities and provided a more tidy CAS package in concert with F/A-16.

(See, I told you I'm no good at backstory...but it works I guess

)

Anyway.... what I'm trying to accomplish here is a direct replacement/strict upgrade of the A-10. Like I said, I supplemented the lack of the GAU-8 by dragging the Army along so that takes care of having to do weird things to make the XL shoot better.

It will be stationed in Europe where the A-10s would have been in the late 80's. RAF airbases, right? I need to find decals. I had given up because buying them would be
expensive but I think I'll ask around here and see if anyone has some that would work.

Euro I paint job.

Ground and air weapons akin to a typical A-10 loadout. (wish I had some hellfires.. but... hey, AH-64 and the Army!! Dues Ex Blah blah blah

)
But, hey, what I DO have are some HARM AGM-88, AGM-65 tv missile, laser guided bomb, a NUKE

(the B-61), a cluster bomb (Rockeye), and a couple AIM-120
a couple AIM-9 for self defense.

The kit... what else.... I do all my military stuff in 1/72 so of course it's the Monogram:

This is some pretty nice crap for 1983! Gear wells and doors are detailed quite nicely and the cockpit tub is very nice as well. The pilot figure is nice, too. Smoked canopy... I guess I can explane (typo... I'll leaving it!!) that away as having anti-flash properties or something.

So far it's quite nice and goes together well. No real problems yet other than a VERY wide, very thick sprue connection on the canopy that left a rather large scare that's nearly impossible to get rid of without damaging the rest of the canopy. This could have been rememdied by having the sprue connection in the area where there is frame work because that can be sanded down and painted. This is in the area of clear glass so it's more problematic. Good part is, it just about becomes invisible with the canopy in place! So.. no biggie.

I've already been working on it. The gear and struts are painted and cleared and ready to be glued on later. Most of the cockpit paint is done. Intakes glued together and on the fuselage... Fin glued on. Got the weapons from the Heller set and found a way to load them. I might switch one or two things but I had to do some research to keep all the weights and balance in check.

This shouldn't be a big ordeal I don't think. Honestly, the weapons painting and scratch building pylons and stuff will likely be the most frustrating aspects of this build but I don't really foresee any issues on this one. Good stuff!

If anyone has a decal set with black markings for an A-10 mid-late 1980s stationed in Europe and they disgust you and you can't stand to have them in your stash any longer, give me a shout.

kitnut617 · December 17, 2019, 12:42:48 PM

Have you been tuning into my tin-foil hat Brad ?

Years ago I had painted up my Airfix F-16A/B kit in SEA camo. A couple of years ago I decided to restore and upgrade it into a AF-16B after reading about the proposal somewhere. I used some different u/c and wheels from a later produced F-16 kit (Hasegawa I think) which had the heavier duty u/c type. I added the GAU-13 pod as that was what the photos of it showed. But it ended up on the backburner because I couldn't find some suitable decals for it.

Here's a couple of pics of it.

TheChronicOne · December 17, 2019, 02:40:55 PM

Brilliant!!! An F-16 in SEA camo.

That's a couple of my favorite things mashed together. Can't beat it. I like the approach to the gear... I wish I had thought of that... I could rummage through my F-16s and do the same perhaps.

Decals.... same thing I'm wondering about.... yup... there's open frequencies here, alright.

I'm finding stuff that ALMOST work... things just before... or just after the timeframe I'm shooting for. And stuff that seems a bit costly. I'm considering just buying a whole separate A-10 kit to get the decals but if I do that I have to get all my research in order.

Trying to avoid shelling out for a fancy sheet that costs the same as a whole kit..... sooo.. if I CAN find a kit with decals that work, I'd rather do that and have a " free " kit instead of just decals for the same price.

Of course, I have only just begun my search. I have some more places to look at online before I give up. My other option of someone here having them is still a good one, too, and if need be, I'll post in the "wanted" thingy.

DogfighterZen · December 18, 2019, 02:18:34 AM

IIRC, the only 1/72 kits with the heavy weight LG are the Academy, Kinetic and Tamiya kits, the rest are just F-16A kits with some updated parts like the C tail and a couple of other bits. The heavy duty gear was introduced in the Block 40/42 F-16C. Both F-16XL airframes initially had the light weight gear but i remember reading that the gear was one of the things that would have to be changed if it had gone into production. They ended up doing it later during the test flight program on both XLs as the light weight gear limited the aircraft to a maximum takeoff gross weight of 37,500 pounds compared to the 48,000 pounds that the heavy weight gear could take.
You can always go for the SAC white metal parts, they have both types of gear for the Viper.

Captain Canada · December 18, 2019, 04:18:43 AM

Very nice. Looks like she's ready for a fight !

I've never seen that pic of them all lined up in the euro camo either. Way cool.

chrisonord · December 18, 2019, 05:02:59 AM

I am looking forward to seeing what you do with this Brad, I like the XL

Chris

kitnut617 · December 18, 2019, 07:24:31 AM

Quote from: DogfighterZen on December 18, 2019, 02:18:34 AM
IIRC, the only 1/72 kits with the heavy weight LG are the Academy, Kinetic and Tamiya kits,
You can always go for the SAC white metal parts, they have both types of gear for the Viper.

The kit I have was just a bag of parts, the left over sprues have 'Made in Japan' on one of them, also F-16C/D/N. I fairly sure I got it because it was an N. But it got used for various other things and I think I even forwarded some parts off to someone else. Anyway, the u/c parts and wheels were much more robust (and larger) that what was on the Airfix F-16A/B kit (from long ago production) so they got swapped out. As far as I can find out, Hasegawa have been the only manufacturer to produce a 1/72 F-16N.

Thanks for the tip on SAC though -- keep that in mind when I build my XL's. EDIT: having just written that, I think I know where a good portion of the bagged parts are now, in one of the XL boxes. I was going to use a lot of bits to detail the XL's. I'll dig them out and have a look.

DogfighterZen · December 18, 2019, 07:46:23 AM

Quote from: kitnut617 on December 18, 2019, 07:24:31 AM
Quote from: DogfighterZen on December 18, 2019, 02:18:34 AM
IIRC, the only 1/72 kits with the heavy weight LG are the Academy, Kinetic and Tamiya kits,
You can always go for the SAC white metal parts, they have both types of gear for the Viper.

The kit I have was just a bag of parts, the left over sprues have 'Made in Japan' on one of them, also F-16C/D/N. I fairly sure I got it because it was an N. But it got used for various other things and I think I even forwarded some parts off to someone else. Anyway, the u/c parts and wheels were much more robust (and larger) that what was on the Airfix F-16A/B kit (from long ago production) so they got swapped out. As far as I can find out, Hasegawa have been the only manufacturer to produce a 1/72 F-16N.

Thanks for the tip on SAC though -- keep that in mind when I build my XL's. EDIT: having just written that, I think I know where a good portion of the bagged parts are now, in one of the XL boxes. I was going to use a lot of bits to detail the XL's. I'll dig them out and have a look.

Well, the Hasegawa F-16 kits i have are the ADF, I and E and i remember that when i was going through reviews, i read that the Hasegawa kits were just updated with the most important bits like tails, intake and engine nozzles and pylons/missile launchers but re the landing gear, only wider wheels and the bulged gear doors were included but the gear itself remained the old light weight representation.
You can see in the pics of the E's review that it's the same old gear with landing lights on the gear struts.
https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/77066-f-16e-fighting-falcon/

And i believe that the first 1/72 kit to come out with the heavy gear was the Academy CG/CJ, according to this review:
http://www.f-16.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10295

kitnut617 · December 18, 2019, 08:54:40 AM

Quote from: DogfighterZen on December 18, 2019, 07:46:23 AM
Quote from: kitnut617 on December 18, 2019, 07:24:31 AM
Quote from: DogfighterZen on December 18, 2019, 02:18:34 AM
IIRC, the only 1/72 kits with the heavy weight LG are the Academy, Kinetic and Tamiya kits,
You can always go for the SAC white metal parts, they have both types of gear for the Viper.

The kit I have was just a bag of parts, the left over sprues have 'Made in Japan' on one of them, also F-16C/D/N. I fairly sure I got it because it was an N. But it got used for various other things and I think I even forwarded some parts off to someone else. Anyway, the u/c parts and wheels were much more robust (and larger) that what was on the Airfix F-16A/B kit (from long ago production) so they got swapped out. As far as I can find out, Hasegawa have been the only manufacturer to produce a 1/72 F-16N.

Thanks for the tip on SAC though -- keep that in mind when I build my XL's. EDIT: having just written that, I think I know where a good portion of the bagged parts are now, in one of the XL boxes. I was going to use a lot of bits to detail the XL's. I'll dig them out and have a look.

Well, the Hasegawa F-16 kits i have are the ADF, I and E and i remember that when i was going through reviews, i read that the Hasegawa kits were just updated with the most important bits like tails, intake and engine nozzles and pylons/missile launchers but re the landing gear, only wider wheels and the bulged gear doors were included but the gear itself remained the old light weight representation.
You can see in the pics of the E's review that it's the same old gear with landing lights on the gear struts.
https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/77066-f-16e-fighting-falcon/

And i believe that the first 1/72 kit to come out with the heavy gear was the Academy CG/CJ, according to this review:
http://www.f-16.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10295

Mystery solved, I found what I've got/got left. It's a Fujimi 1/72 F-16N

Sorry Brad, no more hijacking your thread --

DogfighterZen · December 18, 2019, 11:18:22 AM

Ok, those do look like the heavy weight gear... Funny that i've been searching the web for that kit's review but could only find the ADF kit review and it also has what looks like the heavy weight gear although the ADF was a Block 15 and had the light weight gear...

TheChronicOne · December 18, 2019, 11:32:22 AM

Hell, I don't care. lol I use my blog like social hour anyway.

Come on with it....

Just so happens, my Pre-War F-16 was the Fujimi F-16A Plus kit and here are the gear in comparison with the stuff from my XL. They look just like yours. The "make up" is the same but the Fujimi struts are having a larger diameter. The secondary Monogram struts aren't pictured.

Side note... I had abandonded putting something in the center positon on the XL because I thought the nuke was larger than it is thanks to the inaccurate drawing..... So, when I investigate the loadout again I'll try sticking the B-16 in the center position between the gear.

TheChronicOne · December 18, 2019, 11:33:47 AM

Quote from: Captain Canada on December 18, 2019, 04:18:43 AM
Very nice. Looks like she's ready for a fight !

I've never seen that pic of them all lined up in the euro camo either. Way cool.

Quote from: chrisonord on December 18, 2019, 05:02:59 AM
I am looking forward to seeing what you do with this Brad, I like the XL
Chris

Cheers, mates, this is a group effort all of a sudden and I need all the help I can get so things could get interesting. Like they saido n "Who's The Boss?" ..... STICK AROUND!

kitnut617 · December 18, 2019, 11:40:49 AM

That pre-war F-16 is just gorgeous Brad

TheChronicOne · December 18, 2019, 12:12:09 PM

Thanks!!! One of my favorites of all time!

If I live to be about 400 years old I plan to make every plane I can in this livery.

DogfighterZen · December 18, 2019, 12:35:24 PM

Quote from: TheChronicOne on December 18, 2019, 11:32:22 AM
Hell, I don't care. lol I use my blog like social hour anyway. Come on with it....

Just so happens, my Pre-War F-16 was the Fujimi F-16A Plus kit and here are the gear in comparison with the stuff from my XL. They look just like yours. The "make up" is the same but the Fujimi struts are having a larger diameter. The secondary Monogram struts aren't pictured.

Side note... I had abandonded putting something in the center positon on the XL because I thought the nuke was larger than it is thanks to the inaccurate drawing..... So, when I investigate the loadout again I'll try sticking the B-16 in the center position between the gear.

Scalemates does show that Fujimi did release the F-16N with new parts so, my guess is that they did their homework better than Hasegawa, Revell, Italeri and most of the other brands with F-16 molds at the time.
Good call regarding the Nuke on the center line station.